Sega of America has announced that Shining Force Neo for the Playstation 2 has shipped across North America and should start to show up in stores on Friday. Despite past games in the series being strategy RPGs, Sega decided to re-envision the series and start over as an action RPG this time around.

"By delivering a powerful and visceral experience, Shining Force Neo takes the classic Shining Force franchise in a totally new direction," said Don Mesa, Senior Brand Manager, SEGA of America. "We are proud to introduce the next evolution of the Shining Force series to role-playing fans exclusively for the PlayStation 2."

There are over 150 different stat-improving items, called Force Arts, that can be equipped for quite a bit of customization. Players traverse across vast battlefields as they fight through up to 90 enemies on-screen at one time and follow a story that pulls them through approximately 40 hours of gameplay. The game has an MSRP of $49.99 and has been rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB.